Senate blocks 'card check' bill

Falls short of 60 votes needed for further action

By

WilliamL. Watts

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Business groups claimed victory Tuesday as the Senate blocked legislation designed to make it easier to organize workers by requiring companies to recognize unions whenever a majority of employees sign authorization cards.

The Senate voted 51-48 on a procedural motion that would have allowed the Employee Free Choice Act to move forward, falling nine short of the required 60-vote supermajority.

The legislation had sparked a furious lobbying battle between organized labor, which had hoped to capitalize on the Democratic majorities won in both the House and Senate last November, and business groups.

Business groups charged the legislation would allow unions to intimidate workers into signing cards, stripping them of the protections of a secret ballot.

"This legislation was a power grab with complete disregard for the rights of individual workers and private employers," said John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers.

Advocates of the "card-check" proposal, said the change would have prevented employers from using the pre-election process to illegally fire or harass pro-union employees and to threaten and browbeat other employees in a bid to defeat union authorization.

"This bill should become law so that workers have a truly free and fair election process to decide if they want representation in the workplace," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.

The House voted 241-185 to pass the bill earlier this year. But the Democrats' narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate had led backers to acknowledge that victory would be tough to achieve in the current Congress. President Bush had threatened to veto the legislation if it made it to his desk.

In order to clear the Senate, Democrats were hoping for the support of several moderate Republicans. In the end, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania was the only Republican to join 48 Democrats and two independents in voting to proceed. See how they voted.

Not the last word

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the majority vote, while short of the needed supermajority, remained an encouraging sign.

"That is a watershed achievement -- one scarcely imagined just a couple of years ago -- and an important step toward shoring up our nation's struggling middle class," Sweeney said.

Opponents said they expected to face the issue again.

"Big Labor bosses and their allies in Congress have made it clear that they have each other to thank for their newfound strength on Capitol Hill, and I have no doubt that card check will remain a top priority on each of their legislative agendas," said Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon of California, the senior Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee.

"As we did this time around, Republicans are prepared to fight them every step of the way," McKeon said.

Under current law, the National Labor Relations Board requires employers to hold secret-ballot elections if 30% of workers sign cards calling for union representation. In some cases, unions and employers can agree to hold an election via the card-check process.

The legislation also requires federal mediators to step in when unions and companies can't agree on a contract after a union is recognized.

Union leaders say the bill could help turn around a long-running decline in union membership. Union members make up just more than 7% of workers in private businesses, down from more than 35% in the mid-1950s.

Business groups charged that the legislation could undermine the competitiveness of U.S. firms.

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